Be Free

We are working our way through Galatians and today we were in chapter 5. The sermon today just moved me. In just the first few verses we see the remarkable; we see that by grace we are saved; we see that Jesus (and his finished work) plus nothing equals everything (borrowing from Tchividjian). 

As beautiful as this is it is so hard for broken humans to rely on this, we just need to be doing something. Many times it is Jesus plus something – it is as our Pastor said this morning Grace but... Galatians clears this up for us. In verse 2 Paul cries out (screams) “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no use to you.” This is a remarkable statement and Martin Luther says of this verse that if we try to add to grace, add something to justification other than Jesus, that Jesus becomes “utterly useless” to us. 

He is not saying that Christ is useless but that the finished work of Christ, the loving sacrifice is of no use to the one trying to earn/prove his way. Wow, so verse one tells us; “It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” So if we rest in Christ, if we rely on His magnificent and perfect sacrifice, we are free from the chains of performance, from the chains of circumstance, from the chains of our brokenness.... Wow again! 

Verses 5 and 6 wrap this up for us; verse 5 telling us that, “by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” That when we have faith we patiently, but eagerly await. This phrase has the overtone of persistence and we eagerly await with hope. This is not the modern kind of wishful thinking hope, but a confident assurance kind of hope – hope with certainty in the promise or the accomplishment - the only uncertainty in this kind of hope is the timing so we eagerly await.

Then verse 6 is to me our application – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Oh my! So none of our efforts to impress, none of our traditions in and of themselves, none of our striving for perfection has any value at all and the only thing that counts is heartfelt faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and if we truly have that kind of faith we see it expressed in love. Love for Christ, love for each other and love for our neighbors! 

Amen!

Grace and Peace!